Minutes of the BoD Meeting at Eurocrypt '98

Present: Kevin McCurley(President), Tom Berson, Whitfield Diffie, Arto
Karila, Andrew Klapper, Tsutomu Matsumoto, Ueli Maurer, Kaisa Nyberg,
Eiji Okamoto, Tatsuaki Okamoto, Birgit Pfitzmann, Bart Preneel, Jimmy Upton,
Paul Van Oorschot, Miki Swick and Sally Vito(IACR Secretariat), and
Stafford Tavares.
1. Welcome and Identification of proxies
Kevin called the meeting to order and asked if there were any proxies.
The following proxies were identified:
Jimmy Upton for Andy Clark
Bart Preneel for Peter Landrock
Kevin McCurley for Joan Feigenbaum
2. Review and Approval of Agenda
There were no changes to the Agenda.
3. Review and Approval of minutes from Board Meeting of CRYPTO '97
The minutes were approved as circulated.
4. Membership Secretary Report
Circulated at the meeting(hardcopy prepared by Andy Clark)
5. Treasurer's Report
Executive Summary
In 1997, we saw an increase in the funds in the IACR accounts. The
increase seems appropriate based on our growing membership and
conference attendance. We have taken on the additional financial burden
of a paid secretariat and have made arrangements for its funding. All
is well.
Some Numbers
Assets (December 31, 1996) $180,000
Assets (December 31, 1997) $240,000
Increase in assets $60,000
Primary sources of increase:
Crypto '97 excess $20,000
"On hold" to pay secretariat $10,000
Increased membership $10,000
Increased dues (from $60 to $72) $10,000
Note that most of these amounts (secretariat, increased membership and
increased dues) are advance payments for services that the IACR will
eventually be required to pay. So these amounts are not "real" increases
in assets, only additional "float".
Eurocrypt '97 - Exactly break even.
Crypto '97 - Approximately $20,000 return(plus $10,000 for the secretariat)
The Secretariat
UCSB Campus Conference Services has been retained to handle the duties
of the secretariat. The fee will be $25,000 per year plus expenses.
The estimated total cost will be between $30,000 and $35,000 per year.
The current intent is to have the costs of the secretariat funded
approximately equally by Crypto, Eurocrypt, and the membership dues.
I therefore plan to recommend (in August) that the dues for 1999 be
raised to $80 regular and $40 student (from their current levels of
$72/$36).
Motion(Van Oorschot/ Berson) The Board thanks Jimmy and Andy for their their
contributions to the IACR and welcomes Miki Swick and Sally Vito from UCSB.
Carried.
6. Journal of Cryptology Report(Joan Feigenbaum)
Submissions in 1997:
====================
Total: 46
Rejected: 24
Accepted or conditionally accepted: 13
No decision yet: 9
We should be accepting about 16 submissions per year in order to stay
in steady state, i.e., to have neither an increase nor a decrease in
the backlog, which is now approximately 12 to 15 months. So 1997
statistics appear to be on target.
Submissions in 1998:
====================
They seem to be coming in at approximately the same rate as they
did in 1998. There have been 18 so far, and it is roughly the end
of May; if things continue at this pace, there will be 43.2 submissions
in 1998, compared with 46 in 1997. One of the 1998 submissions has
already been rejected, and the others are in the refereeing process.
Older submissions:
==================
A few months ago, Gilles sent me records of 17 unresolved submissions
from before 1997, and I am in the process of resolving them. One of them
has already been rejected since I got these files from Gilles.
Special issue planned:
======================
Oded Goldreich has solicited submissions for a special issue of
papers from the cryptologically-related part of PODC '97. (PODC
is the ACM Conference on Principles of Distributed Computing.)
He is handling them very well, and it promises to be a good
special issue.
Editorial board changes:
========================
Adi Shamir, Jim Massey, and Andy Yao resigned. Moni Naor and Bart
Preneel have joined. At the end of 1998, I plan to make some more
changes. I will tell people whom I want to remove from the Ed. Board
that 1999 will be the last year of my first three-year term, that
it will be the last year of their terms as well, and that I'd like
them to make sure that all submissions they're handling are wrapped
up as soon as possible in 1999. I want to use this opportunity to
remove some Ed. Board members who aren't doing the job well, but I
think I will also ask some senior people who are doing the job well
to step down, because there are many junior people who deserve a
chance to serve and will (I hope!) also do the job well.
Electronic publishing and contract re-negotiation:
==================================================
Tom Berson handled these matters with Springer-NY, and I believe
he will report on them at the meeting.
Possible page increase:
=======================
Springer-NY has proposed an increase in the number of pages, in order
to shorten the backlog. I told them (1) that we cannot even consider
approving an increase until we know how much it will cost the
membership, and (2) I am not sure that we would want to increase the
number of pages even if the cost were affordable, because I think a
12- or 15-month backlog is tolerable, and the backlog does not seem to
be increasing right now. Sabrina Paris at Springer-NY has promised to
get back to me with the price of the increase, and I have just sent
her a reminder.
My instinct is not to increase the page count right now. I don't
see evidence that the number of acceptable submissions is currently
rising, and it would be dreadful to be in a situation in which we
couldn't be as selective as we wanted to be and still ensure a steady
publication flow. I think it's prudent to wait at least until the end
of 1998; if the number of submissions in 1998 is actually smaller than
the number in 1997, and the number of acceptable submissions is no
greater than in 1997, then there would appear to be little reason if
any to increase the page count.
I would like to hear others' views on the page count.
Journal of Cryptology Report Addendum
Since I sent my report, there have been several updates:
1) Sabrina Paris from Springer NY gave me the following cost
estimate for 84-page issues: $5768 per issue. I still think
that the number of acceptable submissions does not justify a
page-budget increase at this time, but perhaps the Board should
at least consider whether the cost could reasonably be paid by
the membership.
2) Don Coppersmith has resigned from the Editorial Board after
many years of excellent service. (He is tired of nagging
referees.) I have asked a highly qualified person to replace
him and am waiting to hear back from that person.
3) The total number of 1998 submissions is 20, one of which has
already been accepted in final form and several (I forget exactly
how many) have already been rejected.
Tom Berson said that at EUROCRYPT last year he was asked to negotiate with
Springer-Verlag. He said that Springer appears to be more than one company.
The New York Office deals with the Journal and Heidelberg handles the
conference proceedings.
Tom said he has negotiated a contract with Springer which ends in 2002. The
major issue was electronic rights. Springer "LINK" will sell this service.
IACR members will have free access for two years. The Journal will cost
$49. for members for 1998 and 1999.
7. Journal Page Budget
The issue of a page increase is a red herring and should be ignored.
Kevin informed the Board that he has a copy of the contract.
Andy Klapper asked if Springer will implement forward referencing. The answer
was that neither forward nor backward referencing is going to be included in
this version.
Bart Preneel suggested that the IACR could develop an electronic version of
the Journal. Kevin recalled that electronic publishing was resisted in the
past.
Kevin expressed thanks on behalf of the Board for all that Tom had
done on behalf of the IACR in our negotiations with Springer.
Kevin said that he had a different view: Springer looks forward to the
challenge of electronic publishing(and not as a cliff to fall over).
Ueli Maurer said the he and Ron Rivest had been asked by Springer to be
Editors of a hardcover series in cryptography. The series will cover mature
topics in security and cryptography.
Kevin noted that Springer sees that material on cryptography sells well.
It was decided to move up the item on the CD-ROM(#18)
18. CD-Rom of Proceedings(McCurley)
Kevin reported that the CD-ROM is not available(it will contain material
from the IACR conferences). Some of the delay is due to the fact that
Springer is working on a good index. They are scanning the pages of the
Proceedings, but they are having trouble with this. Paul Van Oorschot
wondered if they had received permission form Plenum. It appears that they
have done this. Alan Gersho was the organizer of CRYPTO '81 and the question
as to who has the rights to this material was asked.
Kevin said that in his view, PostScript is the wrong format.
8. Newsletter Report
Kevin said that the newsletter is not being produced. Fritz has moved and
things are not back on track. He is also not happy with the content - it is
not good value for the money. He suggested that the IACR should move to an
electronic newsletter. There was a general discussion of the role and format
of the Newsletter. Kevin expressed an interest in producing the
Newsletter(after his term as president expires).
Diffie suggested that the IACR should approach "Cipher" to publish the
Newsletter.
Tom's view was that the paper version of the Newsletter has died and we
should not revive it. Tom said that he is the Chair of the IEEE Society on
Security and Privacy which publishes the Cipher newsletter. Around 5~6 thousand
people receive it. Avi Rubin and Paul Syverson are the Editors. The Editor
of the IACR newsletter could send it to Sally Vito who could then
distribute it to the IACR members. After further discussion the following
motion was moved:
Motion(Berson/Diffie) move that we change the primary medium of the
Newsletter from paper to electronic. And that the Board view the electronic
newsletter as meeting all the requirements of the bylaws. Carried(14 for/
none against).
In view of the above motion, it was agreed that the IACR should require
the written request of members who wish to receive a paper version of the
Newsletter.
9. Scheduling of Conferences(McCurley)
The Program Chair of CRYPTO '98, Hugo Krawczyk, has reported that the
quality of papers is down this year. This may be due in part to a
scheduling problem, in that EUROCRYPT was late this year. It would be
helpful to increase the spacing between the conferences(6 months). It was
noted that the the latest date that UCSB could host CRYPTO was the second
week of September. The ideal for the three IACR conferences would be about
four months apart.
Kaisa Nyberg said that very good papers were submitted to EUROCRYPT this
year and that we should beware of drawing false conclusions.
Discussion of ASIACRYPT was delayed
Report on EUROCRYPT
Arto Karila reported that there were 404 participants. The break-even
registrations was 300 and he was expecting an $18K surplus. He said there
was more sponsor money than required for break-even.
There were two items that Arto mentioned that he would do differently
next time: he would give larger student discounts(student speakers were
given free tickets), and he would include the excursion in the standard fee.
He would also be making refunds for the CD-ROMS in cash.
The organizers had cheduled 15 minutes for the business meeting on
Wednesday.
Discussion of ASIACRYPT
Eiji Okamoto asked te Board Members to look at the handout.
Kevin said that Tom and himself had attended the Asiacrypt Steering
Committee(ASC) meeting. Eiji requested that the IACR modify the Bylaws to
make ASIACRYPT an official IACR conference.
Kevin said it was a big step for the IACR to take on a third conference. he
also feels very strongly about supporting Asian particiation. He also
posed a number of isues that would have to be resolved, such as handling of
money and the organization. There would be trouble getting a quorum.
Eiji asked if it was necessary to hold a board meeting at ASIACRYPT.
Tom reminded the Board that it had invited the ASC to bring a proposal to
the Board meeting. There is good work being done in cryptography in Asia,
and there are an increasing number of authors. The IACR could take a risk,
and he preferred that it did .
Kevin agreed and suggested that they refine their proposal.
Jimmy observed that it would be necessary to modify the IACR Bylaws for
ASIACRYPT.
Ueli proposed that that we should set rules for ASIACRYPT , such as the
selection of the Program Committee.
It was pointed out that the Board should decide on the Program Chair. The
ASC would look after the organizational aspects.
Kevin asked who would be on the Board if the IACR sponsored ASIACRYPT. Tom
suggested that this could be a role of the ASC. Jimmy observed that we also
need an European Steering Committee.
Kevin said that the discussion had identified the following important issues:
* The Chair of the Program Committee will be chosen by the Board of Directors
* Financial responsibility for the conference has to be resolved
* Who from ASIACRYPT will serve on the Board(a suggestion is the Chair of
the ASC).
Birgit asked why not the General Chair be the person to serve on the Board.
The following motion was moved:
Motion(Berson/Preneel): Move that the IACR will sponsor the ASIACRYPT series
of conferences starting with ASIACRYPT 2000. The Asiacrypt Steering Committee
will solicit proposals and make recommendations to the IACR Board. The IACR
Board will select a proposal and officially appoint the ASIACRYPT General
Chair. The IACR Board will select the ASIACRYPT Program Chair. The
ASIACRYPT General Chair will be a member of the IACR Board in the year
before and the year of the conference. The Chair of the Asiacrypt Steering
Committe will be an observer of the IACR Board. Motion carried(11 for/0
against).
11. IACR 1998 Election(McCurley)
Kevin said this is an important election year. The Board needs to create a
Nominating Committee. He also noted that many Officers will retire.
Preneel, Maurer and Tatsuaki Okamoto volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee. Bart will be the Chair and Maurer will be the Returning Officer.
12. Status of CRYPTO '98(Klapper)
Andy Klapper said that there will be no group photograph. There have been 50
registrations to date.
Kevin wondered if Andy would be interested in videotaping the presentations
at CRYPTO '98. It was suggested that we should look at the website at
www.msri.org .
13. EUROCRYPT '99(Prague, Hruby)
The organizers expected 400 delegates to attend. The conference will be held
at the Hilton Hotel located at the city centre. There are other hotels
within 15 minutes of the Hilton. The Hilton will cost around (U.S.)$130.
per night.
The Registration fee will be (U.S.)$530. They had received a Grant of
(U.S.)$24,000. He expected 15~20 students who would receive stipends.
14. Status of CRYPTO '99
Kevin reported that a General chair has not yet been appointed. The date
selected is 15-19 Aug. 1999.
15. Status of EUROCRYPT 2000(Preneel)
Bart said that the date for the conference is 14-18 May, 2000. The lecture
hall holds 550. The registration fee will be around (U.S.)$450.
16. EUROCRYPT 2001
Kevin said he was expecting a proposal from Austria and perhaps one from
the HP Labs in the U.K.(Bath). He asked if we should encourage them to make
a presentation at CRYPTO '98?. We should solicit proposals but keep the
process open.
17. Status of "In Cooperation With" designation
Kevin proposed that the IACR decline all requests, but list workshops of
interest on the webpage. Exceptions would be the Oakland Conference(IEEE)
and ASIACRYPT. The case for the Oakland conference was based on a
longstanding relationship and a wish to cooperate with the IEEE. The Board
agreed to odopt this policy.
18.CD-ROM of Proceedings(McCurley)
It was noted that this item has already been dealt wth.
19. Tutorials
Kevin said that no one has come forward with proposals. Ueli said we have
to distinguish between academic and commercial tutorials.
20. Other Business
Paul raised the matter of Springer and copyright agreement with the IACR.
Birgit said that the IACR does not have a copyright agreement with Springer
for conferences.
Diffie said that the IACR should shield individual authors from Springer in
dealing with copyright. Kevin said that he will talk to Alferd Hofmann(Springer).
Tom reminded the Board that at present, authors had the rights to copyright.
Jimmy suggested that the Board should remind Springer of our
agreement re the Journal(for reference see the Springer Webpage:
www.springer.de/comp/lncs/copyright.html).
We should ask Hugo not to forward the copyright forms to authors.
Andy Klapper reported that he had been approached by the CIA. They requested
that he report back on activities and conversations at CRYPTO.
Eiji Okamoto said that we needed a formal proposal for ASIACRYPT 2000 at
CRYPTO '98.
Birgit asked that the conference guidelines be sent to Okamoto. Okamoto
observed that ASIACRYPT '99 will have the "in cooperation with" designation.
21. Draft Agenda for General Business Meeting
The Agenda would include a review of upoming conferences. Other items would
include: the financial report, membership secretary report, newsletter,
elections, and the CD-ROM.
22. Review of Action Items
Election
Copyright
General Chair of CRYPTO '98
Springer LINK Access
ASIACRYPT
Newsletter
Bylaws
23. Motion to adjourn carried.
The meeting adjourned at 5:20PM
Respectfully
Stafford Tavares
Secretary